Orcadia (culture)
Orcadia (pronounced "Ore-cade-eeya") is a culture that originated in the Oaa island, about 100 miles north of the region. The culture resided on the Orcadian peninsula. How the original Orcadians lived in the Oaa island is very unclear, as the Oaa island is not suitable for human life due to it's incredibly cold temperatures. However there is compelling evidence showing that the original Orcadians did indeed live there, and that the Orcadian language originated from there. Why the original Orcadians left their home island is unclear- however, they recorded that they crossed a bridge of frozen water between the island and the peninsula; there is no evidence of this. There is also no evidence showing that the Orcadians arrived any other way. The original Orcadians are different than the actual Orcadian natives. The Orcadian natives being people who lived on the island before the original Orcadians arrived, who have a separate culture from the original Orcadians. However, judging by the actual Orcadian culture, the two seemed to have assimilated their cultures at some point, as there are aspects from both cultures prevalent in the Orcadian culture itself. __TOC__ History The history of the Orcadian peninsula stands out from other areas of the Orcadian planet. This fact is prevalent through other nations' history, and in the naming of the planet "Orcadia" after the Orcadian culture. Many Mozian cultures were influenced by Orcadian ideals and traits. Original Orcadians land near Folonth The people from Oaa landed on the Orcadian peninsula in the year 0, and it begins the recorded years for the planet. All events before this are given a negative number for what year it occurred in. The method of which the people from Oaa migrated to the peninsula is unknown. Ancient writings from the people of Oaa record that during a harsh winter that they walked upon frozen water, that would had to have stretched about 100 kilometers between the Oaa island and the closest point of the Orcadian peninsula, which is physically impossible. However, there is no evidence to show that the Orcadian people came over any other way. Simple beginnings, the creation of a union How the people of Oaa migrated to the peninsula is unknown. But the peninsula was occupied before their arrival with people native to the Ulogan landmass, which were racially different than Catatonic Ulogans. There were many indigenious settlements on the peninsula, who, at the time, were in a state of disunion. However, there was no real violence between these city-states. The culture lacked a central structure which led to the state of disunion. While the people of the Orcadian peninsula did not invoke violence upon eachother, to the south west, the people who were eventually known as the Arnians invoked many skirmishes over land/resources/people with the south western Ulogans. The first recorded instance of this was in the year 2. This resulted in the beginning of the unification of Orcadia when the cities of Nemth, Porth, and Verth entered into a union that would be known as Orcadia with other cities that soon followed suit. The earliest message discovered in relation to the beginning of unification was sent by a messenger from Porth, to Verth in the year 18. The two cities started to exchange weapons outside of normal trade going between the cities since Verth had more bio materials (birch wood mostly) because of it's economic relationship it had with Delenthia, while Porth had more metal and marble. Eventually the trade of arms grew to the point between the 3 cities that they held a conference that is believed to be between the city of Porth, and Dvarth (the people of Dvarth at this point had no relationship with the original members of the Orcadian union). At this conference the cities of Porth and Verth agreed to hold elections as to whether or not they were going to be joining the union. Nemth did not hold an election because at the time it was a divine despotism, and the leader of the Nemth settlement supported this union wholeheartedly (possibly as an attempt to attain more power, his exact intentions were never known). It is thought that the union was valid around the year 34, the union contained the cities of Nemth, Porth, and Verth. After the union was valid, word of it's existence quickly grew throughout the continent and in northern Arnia. All settlements within the Orcadian peninsula were united in the Orcadian union by the year 67, the definition of being in the union changed from a simple defense pact, to economic relationships, cultural assimilation, free movement between all union citites, and a united military force. The central city for the union was the city of Orcadas. This time period was defined by economic growth, and a birth of many ideas. There was also alot of growth in the amount of cooperation the city states had, at the beginning of the period the peninsula was full of indepentant city states, and towards the end a democratic union of cities. Alot of the classical Orcadian structures were built during this time period and as the centre of the Union, the city of Orcadas grew over 20 times the size it was during the beginning of the time period. The Orcadian union placed pressure upon the Arnians to consolidate their own power to prevent what would eventually be the Orcadian liberation of northern Arnia. Conflicts with Arnia The skirmishes between northern Arnia and the Orcadians persisted throughout the creation of the Orcadian union and intensified accordingly. The Arnians saw the Orcadian unification as a threat and believed they would be conquered if they did not counter the action somehow. This resulted in small battles between the Arnian sections, almost resulting in a civil war. Eventually in 84 a peace conference held by the Arnian top officials united Arnia against the Orcadians and their "aggression", however their union did not unite them with eachother in any other way and results were limited. Despite all of this the battles between Arnia and Orcadia began to escalate, eventually the Orcadians built walls about 10 kilometres inward from the border, and withdrew inside of the wall in 85. This allowed the Orcadians to peacefully build the wall, and minimizing Arnian attacks on civilians building it. The Arnian militia believed this was a retreat, and took the offensive until they reached the wall, where they broke through and the Sacking of Nemth took place in 87. This drew more military presence in the region, as the Arnians were promptly driven out and past the walls. This time period was defined by further economic growth, the first recorded instance of what was known to be Orcadian architecture, and the multi story anomaly of the city of Orcadas was built during this time period. Orcadian growth continued, and the city of Orcadas quadrupled in size during this time period. Towards the end of the time period, the Arnian culture began to militarize, exceedingly despite the economic and cultural consequences to it. This caused much instability during this time period in Arnia. Because of this small amounts of Arnian refugees began to flee the country., and some of them fleeing to the Orcadian peninsula naturally. The first recorded instance of the Arnians defecting to Orcadia was a small fatherless family defecting to the city of Folonth, which is unusual for this time period. The Orcadian union took this as a sign of the land of Arnia becoming unstable, and the Orcadians began to plan an advance that would eventually be known as the Orcadian liberation, where the Orcadian culture hit it's peak. Orcadian liberation main article: ''Orcadian Wars After the sacking of Nemth in 87, it was eventually decided that there would be a hybrid invasion of Arnia. The plan was to take the northern half of Arnia, place a puppet state, and due to the belief of Arnian instability, that the southern half would collapse and no longer be a threat. The Orcadian army marched passed the wall in 93. It took only 1 year for the Orcadian army to move the proposed distance, and the northern Arnian union was formed in 94. '''A moment of silence' After the Orcadian liberation, the intent of it had succeeded and the Arnian government nearly fell into civil war due to liberation in 95 . Liberation was a final blow to what little stability the Arnian despotism upheld. There were relatively no conflicts or communication between the Arnians and the Orcadians at this time. The Orcadian economy continued to grow, as did the strength of the Orcadian union. At this time the Ulogans declared war on Delenthia, which some Orcadians were aware of but it was not considered something relevant to the Orcadian cause. The Delenthians and the Orcadians had a neutral relationship diplomatically speaking. This period of time was defined by vast economic growth in the liberated zone, the expasion of union obligations, and silent contruction in the Orcadian peninsula. Oncoming Orcadian war After the reconstruction of Arnia, Arnia began to attempt to take their northern lands from the Orcadians in 116, the Orcadians had built a wall protecting their liberated zone. This resulted in initally many Orcadian victories, however soon Arnia called upon their Skenlan allies to the south to aid them in breaking the Orcadian defenses. The Skenlers used their knowledge of explosives and (at the time) advanced seigecraft to outrange Orcadian defenses and penetrate the liberated borders. This caused a flux of Orcadian soldiers to war against the Arnians, however soon the Delenthians to the south were defeated, and Orcadian forces were forced into a 2 front war. This resulted in the Orcadian army to be incredibly stretched and eventually the Arnian advance could not be stopped if the Ulogans were to be stopped at the same time. End of a union As the Arnians began marching into the Orcadian Peninsula, it became apparent that the Arnians were planning to take all of Orcadia. This resulted in the unofficial agreement from Orcadian union members to relinquish sovereignty to the Ulogan kingdom, as the fear of an Arnian genocide in Orcadia was very intense, especially once the Arnians realized how much Orcadianization happened in the liberated zone, as many younger citizens could not even speak Catatonic whatsoever. At the end of the conflict in 123 the last Orcadian military forces were driven into the Orcadian arctic and the peninsula was split by the Ulogan kingdom, and the Arnian Oligarchy. The Arnians viewed the Ulogan occupation of the peninsula as stealing from Arnia's victory, this caused much tensions between the two nations throughout their history together. This ended Orcadia as an autonomous region during this time period. Despite losing it's self sovereignty it's culture, ideas, and people remained relevant long into the modern era.